Comfort
by lumoslumiere
Summary: Oneshot. Comfort, that's all it was. Or so Sakura thought... [NaruSaku]


**A/N:** That's right, I ship both NaruSaku and SasuSaku. I couldn't help but write this, NaruSaku is so adorable and these two seem to be getting closer each day. This just came to me one day at school and I just wrote it down, and i'm actually pretty proud of it. :)

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Comfort

Sakura/Naruto - Naruto

Another failed attempt.

It hurt, to try and try again to get him back and to fail over and over. Only two weeks ago Tsunade-shishou had gathered Naruto, Yamato-senpai, Kakashi-sensei and her, Sakura, she had told them that they were to embarc on a mission to retrieve Sasuke. She said Orochimaru was on the move to a new locationn and that Sasuke was with him. They had set out with every intention to bring him back, there was no room for failing, they would _not_ fail. Naruto had been ecstatic, he had almost ran out the door as soon as he heard the news. But then they got there and Naruto tried to do everything he could to stop Sasuke, instead he got a full blast of Chidori Nagashi. Kakashi-sensei looked had looked on with wide eyes, amazed that Sasuke could do such a thing. Orochimaru hadn't even stopped, he faltered for a second to paralize Kakashi with his tecnique and then left the rest to Sasuke.

Sakura could only stare at Sasuke with tears in her eyes as she craddled an unconsious Naruto in her lap. Sasuke's hand shook as he stared at them and when his gaze met hers she saw fear, a fear she had never seen in his eyes before. And then he ran and no one tried to stop him.

Naruto had almost died that day. It was the day she realized Sasuke was truly dangerous; it was the day she realized she feared him; it was the day she realized she was truly useless. She had done whatever she could, but as they neared Konoha Naruto had stopped breathing and she panicked. She had practiced this procedure so many times, but as Naruto lay dying in her arms all she could was sob and call his name. Luckly they arrived at Konoha just in time and Tsunade-shishou treated him immediately.

She never left his bed side during the 3 day stay at the hospital, but when he was dismissed he was no longer the same Naruto. There was no reasuring smile, no promise to keep trying; there wasn't even a sparkle in his eyes. There was nothing. As he passed the nurse's station on that day, his eyes met hers and they seemed dead, and then he kept walking, crutch clasped firmly in his hands. She didn't know what to think, she had never seen Naruto act this way before. So two days after he was home she decided to visit him. He hadn't been out of his apartment since he was released from the hospital, not even to have ramen. It was strange and it scared her. Sakura stopped at Ichiraku's and bought him a warm bowl and then she stopped at the small sweet shop near his apartment and bought him some of his favorite sweets.

When she got to his apartment she noticed there was nothing on, not even the television. It actually seemed as if there was no one home, but she knew better. She knocked on the door; once, twice, three times, no answer. "Naruto," she called through the door. "I know you're there."

A few moments later the door squeaked open and Naruto stood before her. He looked so different; he wore only a black shirt and black pants, and his eyes were dead as they stared at her. He looked like he'd risen from the dead.

"Sakura-chan..." he said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"Tsunade-shishou sent me" she explained. "She wants me to check your wounds"

"Oh..." he replied. That was it. No exchange of words, nothing. He even gave up looking at her when he talked, he just stared at his feet.

"Well...can I come in?" Sakura asked exasperated.

"Oh, yeah, right..." he answered as he pulled the door open wide and stepped aside so she could come in.

She walked in without looking at him.

As she walked towards his room she noticed his living room was a mess. A lamp lay broken on the floor as if someone had smacked it and his dinner table was littered with food from the past few days. His bedroom was no better; the bed hadn't been made in days and his clothes were scattered all over the floor. It was dark too, not a single light in the apartment was on.

She waited until he followed her into the room and sat on his bed as he came in. "Let me see your wound" Sakura said.

"I'm fine" Naruto answered. He was getting annoyed, she knew it.

"You almost died and you're expecting me to believe you're fine?" she asked. "Not even someone with your healing ability could be fine so soon. Now, let me look at it."

He stared at her, she felt like he was burning holes into her body with his stare. For a moment she thought he'd burst out laughing and make a joke, but he didn't. He just sat next to her on the bed and began to take off his shirt.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen him without a shirt before, she had, many times, but he was no longer the annoying twelve-year-old she used to know, he was a man now. A blush crep up her cheeks as she found herself staring at his chest, how the muscles under his skin rippled as he pulled the shirt over his head. It was at moments like this that Sakura expected him to be smug and cheeky, and grin at her asking why she was blushing, but it never came. Instead she found herself staring at the circular wound on his stomach were Chidori had struck, just beside the Kyuubi's seal. The wound was still raw and it was bleeding again, she noticed. Sakura gathered her chakra in her hands and began to heal.

He winced.

"I'm sorry" she whispered and continued her healing.

"It's alright, Sakura." Naruto answered in a dead voice.

_Sakura? He said Sakura..._

There was no adorable Sakura-chan, no smile to assure her he was fine, no warmth to his voice. It hurt more than any wound could, she was watching him waste away before his eyes. It was all she could do to keep herself from breaking. A sob escaped her throat and her healing stopped.

"Sa-"

"You called me by my name." she interrupted. "You didn't say Sakura-_chan_." She was crying and she felt pathetic. The tears streamed down her cheeks, and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Did life force us to grow up so fast?"

"Sakura..." he whispered.

She looked up at him, he was so serious. She missed his smile _so_ much. "Don't. Just don't. It wasn't your fault Naruto." she all but screamed. "There was nothing more you could've done."

His face was blank, but in his eyes she could see a pain beyond anything she could ever imagine.

"I failed." he answered in a strained voice. "I failed everyone. I couldn't bring him back. I couldn't keep my promise, I failed everyone..." His voice was thick with emotion; hands curled into fists and a grimace on his face. "It seems that no matter how hard I try I can't reach Sasuke, i'm always just looming behind him. I can't win and i'm sorry."

Sakura couldn't listen anymore. She pulled him close, as the sobs took over him and hugged him tightly to her. "That's not true," she said. "You've always won to Sasuke. You proved yourself to be amazing, but you're even more powerful in your dreams and in your heart. You're determined and that's what matters." She could fell his tears soak into her clothes and she'd never been more grateful to see someone cry. "You're an amazing person, Naruto. You haven't failed."

"I couldn't protect anyone." Naruto said suddenly. "I don't know what i've would've done if he had hurt you. I couldn't protect you."

"There's still hope." Sakura said with a sad smile. "You didn't see the look in his eyes. You didn't see how terrified he was, like a small child, he was afraid that he had killed you. He loves you, we all do. You're not alone"

He pulled her close, hands tangling in her hair as he hid his face in the crook of her neck. They stayed like that for what seem like hours and as she did she heard him whisper the words she had dreaded for years. "I love you" he whispered, so low for a second she thought she had imagined it. She didn't know what to say, this was her best friend. So she didn't say anything, she just held him.

"I don't want to lose you." Naruto whispered. "I _can't_ lose you."

Sakura pulled away so she could look at his face. There were tears streaming slowly down his cheeks and there were tears streaming down her's also, but she didn't care, not anymore; not when he was looking at her like that and she couldn't look away from his eyes. Their faces were close, so very close...

And then he was kissing her. Just like that he leaned forward and covered her lips with his. It was her first kiss and she was pretty sure it was his too, and no matter how much she thought about her love for their best friend she wouldn't have preffered her first kiss to be with anyone else. She wouldn't change this for anything, it was _perfect_.

He pulled away after only a few seconds, his eyes wide with fear. "I-" he stuttered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

Sakura just shook her head rejecting his apology. "Don't apologize." She pulled his face forward and kissed him. It was perfect, she could feel herself pulling his worries away.

Naruto's lips moved clumsily over hers and, for a moment, she wanted to giggle because the super perverted blonde wasn't the fantastic kisser he claimed to be. But she didn't giggle, she didn't want this to end. She pulled him closer and deepened the kiss, her hand unconsiously found it's way to his cheek and her fingers slowly traced the three marks that rested there. He pulled away with a hiss, burying his face on her shoulder with a moan.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Don't..." he panted.

"Don't what?"

"Don't touch them." he whispered harshly.

"Oh...why?"

He groaned, something that sounded more like a cross between a growl and a groan, and with a blush flarring across her face she realized what he meant. "Oh..."

But, Naruto wasn't listening anymore, his lips were slowly trailing kisses over her collarbone and a moan escaped her throat. "What are you doing?" she whispered harshly, her eyes widening. His answer never came though, his lips were now trailing across her jaw. The moan that came out of her mouth this time was completely voluntary.

Then suddenly Naruto's alarm clock went off. He pulled away with a soft "dammit" and punched the bothersome thing off.

"It's late" Sakura said. "I should go home. I have paperwork to hand in tomorrow..."

"No" Naruto said. "Please stay. Just tonight."

She looked at him with wide eyes, just what was he trying to suggest here...

"I didn't mean it like that!" he added quickly, seeing the look on her face. "Just to sleep..."

He was blushing and Sakura found it adorable. She couldn't refuse his blushing face. "Alright."

Later, as she lay in bed, his arms around her, she kept telling herself that this was just comfort, nothing more, and if this is what it took to see him smile again then so be it.

She would comfort him.

-FIN-

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Reviews are welcome! 


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